A Hebrew makes
another Hebrew, and such a person is called proselyte. But a proselyte does
not make another proselyte. Some both exist just as they are and make others
like themselves, while others simply exist. The slave seeks only to be free,
but he does not hope to acquire the estate of his master. But the son is not
only a son but lays claim to the inheritance of the father. Those who are
heirs to the dead are themselves dead, and they inherit the dead. Those who
are heirs to what is living are alive, and they are heirs to both what is
living and the dead. The dead are heirs to nothing. For how can he who is
dead inherit? If he who is dead inherits what is living he will not die, but
he who is dead will live even more.

A Gentile does not
die, for he has never lived in order that he may die. He who has believed in
the truth has found life, and this one is in danger of dying, for he is
alive. Ever since Christ came the world is created, the cities adorned, the
dead carried out. When we were Hebrews we were orphans and had only our
mother, but when we became Christians we had both father and mother.

Those who sow in
winter reap in summer. The winter is the world, the summer the other Aeon.
Let us sow in the world that we may reap in the summer. Because it is not
fitting for us not to pray in the winter. Summer follows winter. But if any
man reap in the winter he will not actually reap but pluck out, since this
sort of thing will not provide him a harvest. It is not only now that the
fruit will not come forth, but also on the Sabbath his field will be barren.

Christ came to
ransom some, to save others, to redeem others. He ransomed those who were
strangers and made them his own. And he set his own apart, those whom he
gave as a pledge in his will. It was not only when he appeared that he
voluntarily laid down his life, but he voluntarily laid down his life from
the very day the world came into being. Then he came forth in order to take
it, since it has been given as a pledge. It fell into the hands of robbers
and was taken captive, but he saved it. He redeemed the good people in the
world as well as the evil.

Light and Darkness,
life and death, right and left, are brothers of one another. They are
inseparable. Because of this neither are the good good, nor evil evil, nor
is life life, nor death death. For this reason each one will dissolve into
its original nature. But those who are exalted above the world are
indissoluble, eternal.

Names given to
worldly things are very deceptive for they divert our thoughts from what is
correct to what is incorrect. Thus one who hears the word God does not
perceive what is correct, but perceives what is incorrect. So also with the
Father and the Son and Holy Spirit and life and light and resurrection and
the Church (Ekklesia) and all the rest - people do not perceive what is
correct. The names which are heard in the world to deceive. If they were in
the Aeon, they would at no time be used as names in the world. Nor were they
set among worldly things. They have an end in the Aeon.

One single name is
not uttered in the world, the name which the Father gave to the Son, the
name above all things; the name of the Father. For the Son would not become
Father unless he wears the name of the Father. Those who have this name know
it, but they do not speak it. But those who do not have it do not know it.

But truth brought
names into existence in the world because it is not possible to teach
without names. Truth is one single thing and it is also many things for our
sakes who learn this one thing in love through many things. The powers
wanted to deceive man, since they saw that he had kinship with those that
are truly good. They took the name of those that are good and gave it to
those who are not good, so that through the names they might deceive him and
bind them to those that are not good. And afterward, if they do them a
favor, they will be made to remove them from those that are not good and
place them among those that are good. These things they knew, for they
wanted to take the free man and make him a slave to them forever.

These are the powers
which contend against man, not wishing him to be saved. For if man is saved,
there will not be any sacrifices and animals will not be offered to the
powers. They were indeed offering them up alive, but then they offered them
up they died. As for (the Son of?) man, they offered him up to God dead, and
he lived.

Before Christ came
there was no bread in the world, just as Paradise, the place were Adam was,
had many trees to nourish the animals but no wheat to sustain man. Man used
to feed like the animals, but when Christ came, the perfect man, he brought
bread from heaven in order that man might be nourished with the food of man.
The powers thought that it was by their own power and will they were doing
what they did, but the Holy Spirit in secret accomplished everything through
them as it wished. Truth, which existed since the beginning, is sown
everywhere. And many see it as it is sown, but few are they who see it as it
is reaped.

Some said, Mary
conceived by the Holy Spirit, they are in error. They do not know what they
are saying. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman? Mary is the virgin
whom no power defiled. She is a great anathema to the Hebrews, who are the
apostles and apostolic men. This virgin whom no power defiled; the powers
defiled themselves. And the Lord would not have said My Father who is in
Heaven[Matt16:17] unless he had had another father, but he would have said
simply My father.

The Lord said to the
disciples Bring out from every other house Bring into the house of the
Father. But do not take anything in the house of the Father nor carry it
off.

Jesus is a hidden
name; Christ is a revealed name for this reason: Jesus does not exist in any
other language, but his name is always Jesus as he is called. Christ is also
his name; in Syriac it is Messiah, in Greek it is Christ. Certainly all the
others have it according to their own language. The Nazarene is he who
reveals what is hidden. Christ has everything in himself -man, angel,
mystery, and the Father.

Those who say that
the Lord died first and then rose up are in error, for he rose up first and
then died. If one does not first attain the resurrection will he not die? As
God lives, he would already be dead.

No one will hide a
large valuable object in something large, but many a time one has tossed
countless thousands into a thing worth a penny. Compare the Soul. It is a
precious thing and it came to be in a contemptible body.

Some are afraid lest
they rise naked. Because of this they wish to rise in the flesh, and they do
not know that it is those who wear the flesh who are naked. It is those who
[...] to unclothe themselves who are not naked. Flesh and Blood shall not be
able to inherit the kingdom of God[1Cor15:50] What is this which will not
inherit? This which is on us. But what is this very thing which will
inherit? It is that which belongs to Jesus and his blood. Because of this he
said He who shall not eat my flesh and drink my blood has not life in him
[John6:53] What is it? His flesh is the word, and his blood is the Holy
Spirit. He who have received these has food and he has drink and clothing. I
find fault with the others who say that it will not rise. Then both of them
are at fault. You say that the flesh will not rise. But tell me what will
rise, that we may honour you. You say the Spirit in the flesh, and it is
also this light in the flesh. But this too is a matter which is in the
flesh, for whatever you shall say, you say nothing outside the flesh. It is
necessary to rise in this flesh, since everything exists in it. In this
world those who put on garments are better than the garments. In the Kingdom
of Heaven the garments are better than those that put them on.

It is through water
and fire that the whole place is purified- the visible by the visible, the
hidden by the hidden. There are some things hidden through those visible.
There is water in the water, there is fire in the chrism. Jesus took them
all by stealth, for he did not reveal himself in the manner in which he was,
but it was in the manner in which they would be able to see him that he
revealed himself. He revealed himself to them all. He revealed himself as
great to the great. He revealed himself as small to the small. He revealed
himself to the angels as an angel. Because of this his word hid itself from
everyone. Some indeed saw him, thinking that they were seeing themselves,
but when he appeared to his disciples in glory on the mount he was not
small. He became great, but he made the disciples great, that they might be
able to see his greatness. He said on that day in the Thanksgiving You who
have joined the perfect, the light, with the Holy Spirit, unite the angels
with us also, the images. Do not despise the lamb, for without it, it is not
possible to see the king. No one will be able to go in to the king if he is
naked.

The heavenly man has
many more sons than the earthly man. If the sons of Adam are many, although
they die, how much more the sons of the perfect man they who do not die but
are always begotten. The father makes a son, and the son has not the power
to make a son. For he who has been begotten has not the power to beget, but
the son gets brothers for himself, not sons. All who are begotten in the
world in a natural way, and the others in a spiritual way. Those who are
begotten by him cry out from that place to the perfect man, because they are
nourished on the promise concerning the heavenly place. If the word has gone
out from that place it would become perfect. For it is by a kiss that the
perfect conceive and give birth. For this reason we also kiss one another.
We receive conception from the grace which is in each other.

There were three who
always walked with the Lord; Mary, his mother, and his sister and Magdalene,
the one who was his companion. His sister and his mother and his companion
were each a Mary.

The Father and the
Son is both single names, the Holy Spirit is a double name. For they are
everywhere: they are in the concealed, they are in the revealed. The Holy
Spirit is the revealed: it is below. It is in the concealed: it is above.

The saints are
served by evil powers, for they are blinded by the Holy Spirit into thinking
that they are serving an ordinary man whenever they do something for the
saints. Because of this a disciple asked the Lord one day for something of
this world. He said to him: Ask your mother, and she will give you of the
things which are another's.

The apostles said to
the disciples: May our offering obtain salt They called Sophia salt. Without
it no offering is acceptable. But Sophia is without child. For this reason
she is called a trace of salt But where they will be in their own way, the
Holy Spirit will also be, and her children are many.

What the father
possesses belongs to the son, and the son himself, so long as he is small,
is not entrusted with what is his. But when he becomes a man his father give
him all that he possesses. Those who have gone astray, whom the spirit
itself begets, usually go astray because of the Spirit. Thus, by this one
and the same breath, the fire blazes and is put out.

Echamoth is one
thing and Echmoth, another. Echamoth is Wisdom simply, but Echmoth is the
Wisdom of death which is the one who knows death [called The little wisdom].
There are domestic animals like the bull and the ass and others of this
kind. Others are wild and live apart in the deserts. Man ploughs the field
by means of the domestic animals, and from this he feeds both himself and
the animals, whether tame or wild. Compare the perfect man. It is through
powers which are submissive that he ploughs, preparing for everything to
come into being. For it is because of this that the whole place stands,
whether good or evil, the right and the left. The Holy Spirit shepherds
everyone and rules all the powers, the tame ones and the wild ones, as well
as those which are unique. For indeed she gathers them and shuts them inn,
in order that these, even if they wish, will not be able to escape. He who
has been created us beautiful, and you would find his sons noble creations.
If he was not created, but begotten, you would find that his seed was noble.
But now he was created and he begot. What nobility is this? First, adultery
came into being, afterward murder. And he was begotten in adultery, for he
was the child of the Serpent. So he became a murderer, just like his father,
and he killed his brother. Indeed, every act of sexual intercourse which has
occurred between those who are unlike one another is adultery.

God is a dyer. As
the good dyes which are called true, dissolve with the things dyed in them,
so it is with those whom God has dyed. Since the dyes is immortal, they are
immortal by means of his colors. Now God dips what he dips in water. It is
not possible for anyone to see anything of the things that actually exist
unless he becomes like them. This is not the way with man in the world: he
sees the sun without being a sun; and he sees the heaven and the earth and
all other things, but he is not these things. You saw the Spirit, and you
became spirit. You saw Christ and you became Christ [a christian]. You saw
the Father and you shall become Father. So in this place you see everything
and do not see yourself; but in that place you do see yourself -and what you
see you shall become.

Faith receives, Love
gives. No one will be able to receive without faith. No one will be able to
give without love. Because of this, in order that we may indeed receive, we
believe; but it is so that we may love and give, since if one does not give
in love, he has no profit from what he has given. He who has not received
the Lord is still a Hebrew.

The apostles who
were before us had these names for him: Jesus, the Nazorean, Messiah, that
is , Jesus, the Nazorean, Christ The last name is Christ, the first is
Jesus,that in the middle is the Nazarne Messiah has two meanings, both the
Christ and the measured. Jesus in Hebrew is the redemption Nazara is the
Truth. The Nazarene then, is the Truth. Christ has been measured. The
Nazarene and Jesus are they who have been measured.

When the pearl is
cast down into the mud it does not become greatly despised, nor if it is
anointed with balsam oil will it become more precious. But it always has
value in the eyes of the owner. Compare the Sons of God, whatever they may
be. They still have value in the eyes of their Father.

God is a man-eater.
For this reason men are sacrificed to him. Before men were sacrificed
animals were being sacrificed, since those to whom they were sacrificed were
not gods. Glass decanters and earthenware jugs are both made by means of
fire. But if glass decanters break they are done over, for they came into
being through a breath. If earthenware jugs break, however, they are
destroyed, for they came into being without breath.

An ass which turns a
millstone did a hundred miles of walking. When it was loosened, it found
that it was still at the same place. There are men who make many journeys,
but make no progress towards a destination. When evening came upon them,
they saw neither city nor village, neither creation nor nature, power nor
angel. In vain have the wretches labored.

The eucharist is
Jesus. For he is called in Syriac Pharisatha which is the one who is spread
out for Jesus came crucifying the world. The Lord went into the dye works of
Levi. He took seventy-two different colors and threw them into the vat. He
took them out all white. And he said, Even so the Son of Man come as a dyer

As for the Wisdom
who is called the barren she is the mother of the angels. And the companion
of the Saviour is Mary Magdalene. But Christ loved her more than all the
disciples and used to kiss her often on the mouth. The rest of the disciples
were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to him Why do you
love her more than all of us? The Saviour answered and said to them, Why do
I not love you like her?. When a blind man and one who sees are together in
the darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes,
then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in the
darkness. The Lord said Blessed is he who is before he came into being. For
he who is, has been and shall be The superiority of man is not obvious to
the eye but lies in what is hidden from view. Consequently, he has mastery
over the animals which are stronger than he is and great in terms of the
obvious and the hidden. This enables them to survive. But if man is
separated from them, they slay one another and bite one another. They ate
one another because they did not find any food. But now they have found food
because man tilled the soil.

If one goes down
into the water and comes up again without having received anything, and says
I am a Christian he has borrowed the name at interest. But if he receives
the Holy Spirit, he has the name as a gift. He who has received a gift does
not have to give it back, but of him who has borrowed it at interest,
payment is demanded. This is the way it happens to one when one experiences
a mystery. Great is the mystery of marriage! For without it the world would
not have existed. Now the existence of the world depends on man, and the
existence of man on marriage. Think of the undefiled relationship, for it
possesses a great power. Its image consists of a defilement of the form.

As for the unclean
spirits, there are males among them and there are females. The males are
they which unite with the souls which inhabit a female form, but the females
are they which are mingled with those in a male form, through one who was
disobedient. And none shall be able to escape them, since they detain him if
he does not receive a male power or a female power - the bridegroom and the
bride. One receives them from the mirrored bridal chamber. When the wanton
women see a male sitting alone, they leap down on him and play with him and
defile him. So also the lecherous men, when they see a beautiful woman
sitting alone, they persuade her and compel her, wishing to defile her. But
if they see the man and his wife sitting beside one another, the female
cannot come into the man, nor can the male come into a woman. So if the
image and the angel are united with one another, neither can any venture to
go into the man or the woman.

He who comes out of
the world can no longer be detained, because he was in the world. It is
evident that he is above desire and fear. He is master over nature. He is
superior to envy. If anyone else comes, they seize him and throttle him. And
how will this one be able to escape the great grasping powers? How will he
be able to hide from them? Often some come and say We are faithful in order
that they may be able to escape the unclean spirits and the demons. For if
they had the Holy Spirit no unclean spirit would cleave to them. Fear not
the flesh nor love it. If you fear it, it will gain mastery over you. If you
love it, it will swallow and paralyze you. Either will he be in this world
or in the resurrection or in the places of the middle. God forbid that I be
found in them! In this world there is good and evil. Its good is not good,
and its evil not evil. But there is evil after this world which is truly
evil - what is called the Middle It is death. While we are in this world it
is fitting for us to acquire the resurrection for ourselves, so that when we
strip off the flesh we may be found in rest and not walk in the Middle. For
many go astray on the way. For it is good to come forth from the world
before one has sinned.

Some neither desire
to sin nor are able to sin. Others, even if they desire to sin, are not
better off for not having done it, for this desire makes them sinners. But
even if some do not desire to sin, righteousness will be concealed for them
both - those who desire not and do not. An apostolic man in a vision saw
some people shut up in a house afire and bound with fiery chains, lying in
flaming ointment. And he said to them Why are they not able to be saved?
They answered They did not desire it. They received this place as
punishment, what is called the outer darkness, because he is thrown out into
it. It is from water and fire that the soul and the spirit came into being.
I t is from water and fire and light that the son of the bridal chamber came
into being. The fire is the chrism, the light is the fire. I am not
referring to that fire which has no form, but the other fire whose for are
white, which is bright and beautiful, and which gives beauty.

Truth did not come
into the world naked, but it came in types and images. One will receive the
truth in any other way. There is a rebirth and an image of rebirth. It is
certainly necessary that they should be born again through the image. The
bridegroom and the image must enter through the image into the truth: this
is the restoration. It is appropriate that those who do not have it only
acquire the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but that
the have acquired it on their own. If one does not acquire the name for
himself, the name Christian will also be taken from him. But one receives
them in the aromatic unction of the power of the cross. This power the
apostles called the right and the left For this person is no longer a
Christian but a Christ.

The Lord did
everything in a mystery, a baptism and a chrism and a eucharist and a
redemption and a bridal chamber. The Lord said, I came to make the things
below like the things above, and the things outside like the inside. I came
to unite them in that place He revealed himself in this place through types
and images. Those who say, There is a heavenly man and there is one above
him are wrong. For he who is revealed in Heaven is that heavenly man, the
one who is called the one who is below, and he to whom the hidden belongs is
that one who is above him. For it is good that they should say, The inner
and outer, with what is outside the outer. Because of this the Lord called
destruction the the outer darkness; there is not another outside of it. He
said, My Father who is secret. He said , Go into your chamber and shut the
door behind you, and pray to your Father who is secret [Matt6:6], the one
who is within them all. But that which is within them all is the fullness.
Beyond it there is nothing else within it. This is that of which they say,
That which is above them.

Before Christ some
came from a place they were no longer able to enter, and they went where
they were no longer able to come out. The Christ came. Those who went in he
brought out, and those who went out, he brought in. When Eve was still with
Adam, death did not exist. When she was separated from him, death came into
being. If he again becomes complete and attains his former self, death will
be no more.

My God, my God, why,
O Lord, have you forsaken me? [Mark15:23]. It was on the cross that he said
these words, for it was there he was divided.

Everyone who has
been begotten through him who destroys did not emanate from God.

The Lord rose from
the dead. He became as he used to be, but now his body was perfect. He did
indeed possess flesh, but this flesh is true flesh. Our flesh is not true,
but we only possess an image of that which is true. A bridal chamber is not
for the animals, nor is it for the slaves, nor for the defiled women, but it
is for free men and virgins. Through the Holy Spirit we are indeed begotten
again, but we are begotten through Christ in the two. We are anointed
through theSpirit. When we were begotten by we were united. None shall be
able to see himself either in the water or in a mirror without the light.
Nor again will you be able to see in light without mirror or water. For this
reason it is fitting to baptize in the two, in the light and in the water.
Now the light is the chrism.

There were three
buildings specifically for sacrifice in Jerusalem. The one facing the west
was called The Holy. Another facing the South was called The Holy of the
Holy. The third facing the East was called The Holy of the Holies, the place
where only the high priest enters. Baptism is the Holy building. Redemption
is the Holy of the Holy building. The Holy of the Holies is the bridal
chamber. Baptism includes resurrection and the redemption; the redemption
takes place in the bridal chamber. But the bridal chamber is in that which
is superior to it and the others, because you will not find anything like
it. Those who are familiar with it are those who pray in the Holy in
Jerusalem. There are some in Jerusalem, awaiting the Kingdom of Heaven.
These are called the Holy of the Holies because before the veil was rent we
had no other bridal chamber except for the image of the bridal chamber which
is above. Because of this, its veil was rent from top to bottom. For it was
fitting for some from below to go upward.

The powers do not
see those who are clothed in the perfect light, and consequently are not
able to detain them. One will clothe himself in this light sacramentally in
the union.

If the woman had not
separated from the man, she would not die with the man. His separation
became the beginning of death. Because of this Christ came to repair the
separation which was from the beginning and to again unite the two, to give
life to those who died as a result of the separation and unite them. But the
woman is united to her husband in the bridal chamber. Indeed, those who have
united in the bridal chamber will no longer be separated. Thus Eve separated
from Adam because she was never united with him in the bridal chamber.

The soul of Adam
came into being by means of a breath (pneuma), which s a synonym for spirit
(Pneuma). The Spirit given him is his mother. His soul was replaced by a
spirit. When he was united to the spirit, he spoke words incomprehensible to
the powers. They envied him because they were separated from the spiritual
union. This separation afforded them the opportunity to fashion for
themselves the symbolic bridal chamber so that men would be defiled.

Jesus revealed
himself at the Jordan: it was the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven. He who
was begotten before everything was begotten anew. He who was once anointed
was anointed anew. He who was redeemed in turn redeemed others.

Is it permitted to
utter a mystery? The Father of everything united with the virgin who came
down, and a fire shone for him on that day. He appeared in the great bridal
chamber. Therefore his body came into being on that very day. It left the
bridal chamber as one who came into being from the bridegroom and the bride.
So Jesus established everything in it through these. It is fitting for each
of the disciples to enter into his rest.

Adam came into being
from two virgins, from the Spirit and from the virgin of earth. Christ
therefore, was born from a virgin to rectify the Fall which occurred in the
beginning.

There are two trees
growing in Paradise. One bears animals, the other bears men. Adam ate from
the tree which bore animals. He became an animal and he brought forth
animals. For this reason the children of Adam worship animals. The tree
whose gift Adam ate is the Tree of Knowledge. That is why sins increased. If
he ate the fruit of the other tree, that is to say, the Tree of Life, the
one which bears men, then the gods would worship man. For in the beginning
God created man. But now men create God. That is the way it is in the world
- men make gods and worshiped heir creation. It would be fitting for the
gods to worship men!

Surely what a man
accomplishes depends on his abilities. We even refer to ones accomplishments
as abilities. Among his accomplishments are his children. They originate in
a moment of ease. Thus his abilities determine what he may accomplish, but
this ease is clearly evident in the children. You will find that this
applies directly to the image. Here is the man made after the image,
accomplishing things with his physical strength but providing his children
with ease. In this world slaves serve the free. In the Kingdom of Heaven the
free will minister to the slaves: the children of the bridal chamber will
minister to the children of the marriage. The children of the bridal chamber
have just one name. Together they shall share rest. They need take no other
form because they have contemplation, comprehending by insight. They are
numerous because they do not put their treasure in the things below, which
are despised, but in the glories which are above, though they did not yet
know them.

Those who will be
baptized go down into the water. But Christ, by coming out of the water,
will consecrate it, so that they who have received the baptism in his name
may be perfect. For he said, Thus we should fulfill all righteousness
[Matt3:15]

Those who say they
will die first and then rise are in error. If they do not first receive the
resurrection while they live, when they die they will receive nothing. So
also when speaking about baptism they say Baptism is a great thing because
if people receive it it they will live. Phillip the apostle said, Joseph the
carpenter planted a garden because he needed wood for his trade. it was he
who made the cross from the trees which he planted. His own offspring hung
on that which he planted. His offspring was Jesus and the planting was the
cross. But the Tree of Life is in the middle of the Garden. However, it is
from the olive tree that we got the chrism, and from the chrism, the
resurrection.

This world is a
corpse-eater. All the things eaten in it themselves die also. Truth is a
life-eater. Therefore no one nourished by truth will die. It was from that
place that Jesus came and brought food. To those who so desired he gave
life, that they might not die.

God planted a
Garden. Man was put into the Garden. There were many trees there for him,
and man lived in this place with the blessing of the image of God. The
things which are in it I will eat as I wish. This garden is the place where
they will say to me, O man ,eat this or do not eat that, just as you wish
This is the place where I will eat all things, since the Tree of Knowledge
is there. That one killed Adam, but here the Tree of Knowledge made men
alive. The law was the tree. It has power to give the knowledge of good and
evil. It neither removed him from evil, nor did it set him in the good, but
it created death for those who ate it, For when he said, Eat this, do not
eat that, it became the beginning of death.

The chrism is
superior to the baptism, for it is from the word Chrism that we have been
called Christians certainly not because of the word baptism. And it is
because of the chrism that the Christ has his name. For the Father anointed
the Son, and the Son anointed the apostles, and the apostles anointed us. He
who has been anointed possesses everything, he possesses the resurrection,
the light ,the cross, the Holy Spirit. The Father gave him this in the
bridal chamber; he merely accepted the gift. The Father was in the Son and
the Son in the Father. This is the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Lord have said
it well, Some have entered the Kingdom of Heaven laughing and they have come
out.. They do not remain there- the one because he is not a Christian, the
other because he regrets his action afterward. And as soon as Christ went
down into the water, he came out laughing at everything of this world, not
because he considers it a trifle, but because he is full of contempt for it.
He who wants to enter the Kingdom of Heaven will attain it. If he despises
everything of this world and scorns it as a trifle, he will come out
laughing. So it is also with the bread and the cup and the oil, even though
there is another one superior to these.

The world came about
through a mistake. For he who created it wanted to create it imperishable
and immortal. He fell short of attaining his desire. For the world never was
imperishable, but sons are. Nothing will be able to receive imperishability
if it does not first become a son. But he who has not the ability to
receive, how much more will he be unable to give?

The Cup of prayer
contains wine and water, since it is appointed as the type of the blood for
which thanks is given. And it is full of the Holy Spirit, and it belongs to
the wholly perfect man. When we drink this, we shall receive for ourselves
the perfect man. The living water is a body. It is necessary that we put on
the living man. Therefore, when he is about to go down into the water, he
unclothes himself, in order that he may put on the living man.

A horse sires a
horse, a man begets man, a god brings forth a god. Compare the bridegroom
and the bride. Their children were conceived in the bridal chamber. No Jew
was ever born to Greek parents as long as the world has existed. And, as a
Christian people. we ourselves do not descend from the Jews. There was
another people and these blessed ones are referred to as The chosen people
of the Living God and The true man and Son of Man and the seed of the Son of
Man. In the world it is called this true people. Where they are, there are
the sons of the bridal chamber.

Whereas in this
world the union is one of husband with wife -a case of strength complemented
with weakness - in the Aeon the form of the union is different, although we
refer to them by the same names. There are other names, however, they are
superior to every other name that is named and are stronger than the strong.
For where there is a show of strength, there those who excel in strength
appear. These are not separate things, but both of them are this one single
thing. This is the one which will not be able to rise above the heart of
flesh.

Is it not necessary
for all those who possess everything to know themselves? Some indeed, if
they do not know themselves, will not enjoy their possessions. Not only will
they be unable to detain the perfect man, but they will not be able to see
him, for if they see him they will detain him. There is no other way for a
person to acquire this quality except by putting on the perfect light and
become perfect oneself. Everyone who has put this on will enter the kingdom.
This is the perfect light, and it is necessary that we, by all means, become
perfect men before we leave the world. He who has received everything and
has not rid himself of these places will not be able to share in that place,
but will go to the Middle as imperfect. Only Jesus knows the end of this
person.

The priest is
completely holy, down to his very body. For if he has taken the bread, will
he consecrate it? Or the cup or anything else that he gets, does he
consecrate them? Then how will he not consecrate the body also? By
perfecting the water of baptism, Jesus emptied it of death. Thus we do go
down into the water, but we do not go down into death in order that we may
not be poured out into the spirit of the world. When this spirit blows, it
brings the winter. When the Holy Spirit breathes, the summer comes.

He who has knowledge
of the truth is a free man, but the free man does not sin, for He who sins
is the slave of sin [John8:34] Truth is the mother, knowledge the father.
Those who think that sinning does not apply for them are called free by the
world. Knowledge of the truth merely makes such people arrogant, which is
what the words, it makes them free mean. It even gives them a sense of
superiority over the whole world. But Love builds up [1Cor8:1]. In fact, he
who is really free through knowledge is a slave because of love for those
who have not yet been able to attain the freedom which comes from knowledge.
Knowledge makes them capable of becoming free. Love never calls something
its own, and yet it may actually possess that very thing. It never says,
This is mine but All these are yours. Spiritual love is wine and fragrance.
All those who anoint themselves with it take pleasure in it. While those who
are anointed are present, those nearby profit from the fragrance. If those
anointed with ointment withdraw from them and leave, then those anointed,
who merely stand nearby, still remain in their bad odor. The samaritan gave
nothing but wine and oil to the wounded man. It is nothing other than the
ointment. It healed the wounds, for love covers a multitude of sins
[1Pet4:8]

The children a woman
bears resemble the man who loves her. If her husband loves her, then they
resemble her husband. If it is an adulterer, then they resemble the
adulterer. Frequently, if a woman sleep with her husband out of necessity,
while her heart is with the adulterer with whim she usually has intercourse
, the child she will bear is born resembling the adulterer. Now you who live
together with the Son of God, love not the world, but love the Lord.

The human being has
intercourse with the human being. The horse has intercourse with the horse,
the ass with the ass. Members of a race usually have associated with those
of like race. So spirit mingles with spirit, and thought consorts with
thought, and light shares with light. If you are born a human being, it is
the human being which will love you. If you become a spirit, it is the
spirit which will be joined to you. If you become thought, it is thought
which will mingle with you. If you become light, it is light which will
share with you. If you become one of those who belong above, it is those who
belong above who will rest in you. I f you become horse or ass or bull or
dog or sheep or another of the animals which are outside and below, then
neither human being or spirit nor thought nor light will be able to love
you. Neither those who belong above nor those who belong within will be able
to rest in you, and you have no part in them. He who is a slave against his
will, will be able to become free.

Farming in the world
requires the cooperation of four essential elements. A harvest is gathered
into the barn only as a result of the natural action of water, earth, wind
and light. God's farming likewise has four elements - faith, hope, love, and
knowledge. Faith is our earth, that in which we take root. And hope is the
water through which we are nourished. Love is the wind through which we
grow. Knowledge is the light through which we ripen. Grace exists in four
ways; it is earthborn, it is heavenly; it comes from the highest heaven; and
it resides in truth.

Blessed is the one
who on no occasion caused a soul distress. That person is Jesus Christ. He
came to the whole place and did not burden anyone. Therefore the blessed is
the one who is like this, because he is a perfect man. This indeed is the
Word. Tell us about it, since it is difficult to define. How shall we be
able to accomplish such a great thing? How will he give everyone comfort?
Above all, it is not proper to cause anyone distress - whether the person is
great or small, unbeliever or believer - and then give comfort only to those
who take satisfaction in good deeds. Some find it advantageous to give
comfort to the one who has fared well. He who does good deeds cannot give
comfort to such people, for it goes against his will. He is unable to cause
distress, however, since he does not afflict them. To be sure, the one who
fares well sometimes causes people distress, not that he intends to do so;
rather, it is their own wickedness which is responsible for their distress.
He who possesses the qualities of the perfect man rejoice in the good. Some,
however, are terribly distressed by all this.

There was a
householder who had every conceivable thing, be it son or slave or cattle or
dog or pig or corn or barley or chaff or grass or castor oil or meat and
acorn. Now he was a sensible fellow and he knew what the food of each one
was. He himself served the children bread and meat. He served the slaves
castor oil and meal. And he threw barley and chaff and grass to the cattle.
He threw bones to the dogs, and to the pigs he threw acorns and scraps of
bread. Compare the disciple of God: if he is a sensible fellow he
understands what discipleship is all about. The bodily forms will not
deceive him, but he will look at the condition of the soul of each one and
speak with him. There are many animals in the world which are in a human
form. When he identifies them, to the swine he will throw acorns, to the
cattle he will throw barley and chaff and grass, to the dogs he will throw
bones. To the slaves he will give only the elementary lessons, but to the
children he will give the complete instruction.

There is the Son of
man and there is the son of the Son of man. The Lord is the Son of man, and
the son of the Son of man is he who created through the Son of man. The Son
of man received from God the capacity to create. He also has the ability to
beget. He who has received the ability to create is a creature. He who has
received the ability to beget is an offspring. He who creates cannot beget.
He who begets also has the ability to create. Now they say, He who creates
begets. But his so-called offspring is merely a creature. Therefore his
children are not offspring but creatures. He who create works openly; he
himself is visible. He who begets, begets in private; he is himself hidden,
since he is superior to every image. He who creates, creates openly. But one
who begets, begets children in private. No one will be able to know when the
husband and the wife have intercourse with one another, except the two in
them. Indeed, marriage in the world is a mystery for those who have taken a
wife. If there is a hidden quality to the marriage of defilement, how much
more is the undefiled marriage a true mystery! It is not fleshly but pure.
It belongs not to desire but to the will. It belongs not to the darkness or
the night but to the day and the light. If a marriage is open to the public,
it has become prostitution, and the bride plays the harlot not only when she
is impregnated by another man but even if she slips out of her bedroom and
is seen. Let her show herself only to the father and her mother and the
friend of the bridegroom and the sons of the bridegroom. These are permitted
to enter every day into the bridal chamber. But let the others yearn to
listen to her voice and to enjoy her ointment, and let them feed from the
crumbs that fall from the table ,like dogs. Bridegrooms and brides belong to
the bridal chamber. No one shall be able to see the bridegroom with the
bride unless one becomes one.

When Abraham
rejoiced that he was to see what he was to see, he circumcised the flesh of
the foreskin, teaching us that it is proper to destroy the flesh.

Most things in the
world, as long as their inner parts are hidden, stand upright and live. If
they are revealed they die, as is illustrated by the visible man: as long as
the intestines of the man are hidden, the man is alive; when his intestines
are exposed and come out of him, the man will die. So also with the tree:
while its root is hidden it sprouts and grows. If its root is exposed, the
tree dries up. So it is with every birth that is in the world, not only with
the revealed but with the hidden. For so long as the root of wickedness is
hidden, it is strong. But when it is recognized, it is dissolved. When it is
revealed, it perishes. That is why the word say, Already the axe is laid at
the root of the tree [Matt3:10] It will not merely cut - what is cut sprouts
again - but the ax penetrates deeply until it brings up the root. Jesus
pulled out the root of the whole place, while others only did it partially.
As for ourselves, let each one of us dig down after the root of evil which
is within one, and let one pluck it out of one`s heart from the root. It
will be plucked out if we recognize it. But if we are ignorant of it, it
takes root in us and produces its fruit in our heart. It masters us. We are
its slaves. It takes us captive, to make us do what we do not want; and what
we do want we do not do. It is powerful because we have not recognized it.
While it exists it is active. Ignorance is the mother of all evil. Ignorance
will eventuate in death, because those who come from ignorance neither were
nor are nor shall be. But those who are in the truth will be perfect when
all the truth is revealed. For truth is like ignorance: while it is hidden
it rests in itself, but when it is revealed and is recognized, it is praised
inasmuch as it is stronger than ignorance and the error. It gives freedom.
The word said, If you know the truth, the truth will make you free
[John8:32] Ignorance is a slave. Knowledge is freedom. I f we know the
truth, we shall find the fruits of the truth within us. If we are joined to
it, it will bring fulfillment.

At the present time
we have the manifest things of creation. We say, The strong are they who are
held in high regard. And the obscure are the weak who are despised. Contrast
the manifest things of truth: they are weak and despised, while the hidden
things are strong and held in high regard. The mysteries of truth are
revealed, though in type and image. The bridal chamber, however, remains
hidden. It is the Holy in the Holy. The veil at first concealed how God
controlled the creation, but when the veil is rent and the things inside are
revealed, this house will be left desolate, or rather - it will be
destroyed. But the whole inferior godhead will flee from these places into
the holy of holies, for it will not be able to mix with the unmixed light
and the flawless fullness, but will be under the wings of the cross and its
arms. This ark will be its salvation when the flood of water(?) surges over
them. If some belong to the order of the priesthood, they will be able to go
within the veil with the high priest. For this reason the veil was not rent
at the top only since it would have been revealed only to those below. But
it was rent from the top to bottom. Those above opened to us who are below,
in order that we may go into the secret of truth. This truly is what is held
in high regard, since it is strong! But we shall go into there by means of
lowly types and forms of weakness. They are lowly indeed when compared with
the perfect glory. There is glory which surpasses glory. There is power
which surpasses power. Therefore, the perfect things have opened to us,
together with the hidden things of truth. The holies of the holies were
revealed, and the bridal chamber invited us in.

As long as it is
hidden, wickedness is indeed ineffectual, but it has not been removed from
the midst of the seed of the Holy Spirit. They are slaves of evil. But when
it is revealed, then the perfect light will flow out on everyone. And all
those who are in it will receive the chrism. Then the slaves will be free
and the captives ransomed. Every plant which my father in heaven has not
planted will be plucked out [Matt15:13]. Those who are separated will be
united and will be filled. Every one who will enter the bridal chamber will
kindle the light, for it burns just as in the marriages which are observed,
though they happen at night. That fire burns only at night and is put out.
But the mysteries of this marriage are perfected rather in the day and the
light. Neither that day nor its light ever sets. If anyone becomes a son of
the bridal chamber, he will receive the light. If anyone does not receive it
while he is in these places, he will not be able to receive it in the other
place. He who will receive the light will not be seen, nor can he be
detained. And none shall be able to torment a person like this even while he
dwells in the world. And again, when he leaves the world he has already
received the truth in the images. The world has become the Aeon, for the
Aeon if fullness for him. This is the way it is: it is revealed to him
alone, not hidden in the darkness and the night, but hidden in a perfect day
and a holy light.

--
Selection made from James M.Robinson(ed): The Nag Hammadi Library, revised
edition.

The Gospel of Philip
is the most literate text of all the Gnostic Gospels. A scholar wrote this
Gospel, perhaps Valentinius himself. It's a beautiful Gospel and compelling
intellectually, unlike most of the other Gnostic Gospels which are all quite
bogged down with endless "syzygies", those pairs of emanating qualities from
the unknown Gnostic Godhead recording Sophia's plight as a trapped Goddess
of Wisdom within the Demiurge's (Yahweh/Yaldaboath) botched Creation. She
represented the Soul's struggle to overcome the material world's grasp.
These poor Gnostics, knowing as they did that Yahweh's Creation was a place
of inevitable death and destruction, unfortunately had no idea that priests
of Judah had long ago replaced Creation's true Creator, EL Elyon, God Most
High. They never learned of Judah's god switching and thus held Judah's god
responsible for Creation's life and death, consciousness and
unconsciousness, dualities that accompany all living systems. They never
found Jesus' Abba, His good Father, EL. They never figured out the Purpose
of Creation.